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Gotham HIts Home Run as Hawks Sweep Final Games

STEUBENVILLE, OH – Crystal Hailey’s strong hitting carried Hilbert College to a season sweep over Franciscan University April 27 to end their softball season on a high note. The Hawks took the opening game 11-0 and closed the day scoring another 11 runs while giving up 3. Hailey finished the afternoon with five hits (.714) and five runs scored.SeniorDevan Jonathanearned her first win giving up two hits while striking out five in five innings. Freshman Jaelyn Gotham grabbed the 11-3 win with three strikeouts and four hits.

Playing through two scoreless innings, Hilbert finally put broke open the game in the top of the third with three runs. They added three in the fourth and five more runs in the fifth while shutting the Barons out defensively.

Hailey went 3 for 3 and stole one base. Jonathan was 3 for 4, and knocked in three runs along with Hailey.

The Hawks picked up where they left off after the break in action. Rachel Collier doubled her first at bat in the opening inning and Allison Halland Eliza Stringhamdid the same in the second inning. Neither team found their way home in the third inning, but the Hawks padded their total with five runs in the fourth. Franciscan connected for three runs in the bottom half of the inning, which kept the game within reach. But in the top of the sixth, Gotham whacked a home run to stretch the run differential to eight runs ending the game after the third Franciscan out in the bottom of the inning.

Hilbert closed their 2013 season with a 8-20 overall record and finished 6-12 in league play.

Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With nearly 1,100 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship, and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. The Hilbert Blueprint promotes a well-rounded student experience over four years – starting with the Foundations Seminar in the freshman year, followed by Sophomore Service, Junior Symposium, and culminating with the Senior Capstone. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs and new Accelerated Degree Programs geared to adult learners.